PLANNING AND EVALUATION Project Summary Planning and Evaluation supports the scientific and administrative evaluation and strategic planning of all major initiatives at the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFBCCC). The leadership of the WFBCCC uses both internal and external committees and boards to obtain substantive advice to inform the decision-making process and continuously develop and modify the plans of the Center. The WFBCCC Director, Boris Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., has strategically enhanced the WFBCCC's leadership as follows: ? The Senior Leadership Committee meets weekly to discuss and evaluate the day-to-day strategic planning initiatives and is comprised of the Director, Deputy Director, Associate Directors, Program Leaders and Co-Leaders, and the Director of Finance. ? The Internal Advisory Board meets monthly to provide the primary decision-making for the WFBCCC and is comprised of the Director, Deputy Director, Associate Directors, Program Leaders, a multi- disciplinary group of leaders chosen for their leadership and advocacy in the WFBCCC, and key administrative staff members. ? The Institutional Executive Advisory Committee, chaired by the Dean of the School of Medicine, is comprised of leaders and representatives of other Centers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Wake Forest University (undergraduate and graduate school campus), and the joint Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. In these quarterly meetings, the WFBCCC Director advocates for the Center and promotes interactions on issues pertaining to institutional commitment, recruitment, alignment of strategic priorities, new research collaborations, and opportunities to support Institution-wide research initiatives. ? The External Advisory Board is comprised of external advisors who are directors, senior researchers, and administrative leaders from other NCI-designated Centers and has provided invaluable feedback to the WFBCCC. The Board was expanded in 2014 and 2015 after Dr. Pasche became the WFBCCC Director. The EAB now has 12 members, 3 of whom have served previously, These various advisory group meetings ? in conjunction with membership retreats, Shared Resource quarterly meetings, and ad hoc external advisory meetings ? have helped the WFBCCC develop a new five-year strategic plan, enhance scientific expertise through targeted recruitment, expand Shared Resources to address the changing needs of investigators, form new collaborations among investigators on important topics (e.g. cognition and cancer, genomics, biomedical engineering), and strengthen the overall institutional support and commitment to the WFBCCC.